Code Talker Anderson passes away

Flags will be flying on the Navajo Reservation at half mast until sunset Saturday to honor the passing of a Navajo Code Talker.

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly announced on Tuesday the death of Edward B. Anderson Jr., who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1942 to 1945 as a Navajo Code Talker.

Anderson is the fourth Code Talker to die in the past three months. Code Talker Association officials said last week that only 29 of the more than 450 Navajos who served as code talkers were still alive.

Peter MacDonald Sr., president of the association, said Wednesday that Anderson had been a member of the association.

A resident of Ganado, Ariz., Anderson served in the 1st Marine Division and was stationed in the South Pacific, Australia, Guadalcanal, New Guinea and New Britain.

During his military career, he received the Purple Heart, several South Pacific ribbons and later, along with other code talkers, he received a Congressional Medal.

Funeral services are scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Friday at the Ganado Presbyterian Church. Burial will follow at the Fort Defiance Cemetery.